Update 6/10/2019: According to the Vermont Right to Life Committee and VT Digger, Vermont Governor Phill Scott (R) has signed H.57 into law. There are currently no restrictions on abortion in the state and this bill will ensure that abortion-on-demand remains legal in Vermont through all nine months of pregnancy.
“By putting his signature on H. 57, Governor Phil Scott endorses unlimited, unregulated abortion throughout all nine months of pregnancy,” said Mary Hahn Beerworth, Executive Director of Vermont Right to Life. “His signature signals his preference for protecting the business of abortion over other life-affirming options in Vermont statute.”
According to Sharon Toborg, Policy Analyst for Vermont Right to Life, “H. 57 goes beyond Roe v. Wade, and may well be the most radical anti-life law in the nation. H.57 grants abortion providers and clinics the right to sue the State if they are not allowed to establish a new abortion practice in Vermont. Unlike providers of any other medical procedure, H. 57 grants abortion providers this private right of action against the State.”
5/23/2019: Vermont Governor Phill Scott (R) has said he will allow abortion bill H.57 pass into law. The bill was recently approved in both the House and the Senate and the governor can either sign it into law or leave it to pass without his signature. The bill seeks to make abortion a right in the state where there are already no restrictions at any time for any reason. A woman in Vermont can undergo an elective abortion at nine months, and this bill intends to keep it that way.
Vermont Right to Life Committee has said Planned Parenthood calls it a “common-sense” bill.
Scott’s spokeswoman Rebecca Kelley told NBC5 that the governor has “ruled out” a veto, which appears would have been easily overruled, but he hadn’t confirmed if he would sign or simply allow it to become law without his signature.
“The General Assembly intends this act to safeguard the existing rights to access reproductive health services in Vermont by ensuring those rights are not denied, restricted, or infringed by a government entity,” reads the bill. It aims to ensure that abortion-on-demand remains legal in the state in the event that Roe v. Wade is overturned.
“I believe in a woman’s right to choose,” said Scott last week. “I believe government should stay out of it.”
Vermont is also considering an amendment to the state constitution known as Proposition 5 which would make abortion-on-demand a state constitutional right.
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